ebooks

Battling piracy has proven difficult, but that hasn't yet stopped companies from trying, and as such it isn't surprising that a couple publishers have turned to a new option in an effort to pinpoint where, exactly, ebook uploads are surfacing from. Using Digimarc technology, the publishers' ebooks will be tagged with an invisible -- and traceable -- watermark.

Kobo has taken the wraps off its newest traditional ereader, the Aura H2O. As its name suggests, the newest e-ink device from the company is waterproof, setting it apart from some of its similarly-designed brethren. The device is supposed to be the first of its kind, and unshackles readers so they can enjoy their digital books poolside or in the tub.

A group of authors published open letter , wherein they detail their objections to the protracted assault Amazon has levied against Hachette. In response, Amazon published their own line of reasoning for the eBook cold war today, suggesting the shop-from-home giant is simply looking out for our best interest as consumers. What neither have done is fully appreciate the author or reader.

Earlier today, Apple was granted preliminary court approval for its ebook settlement plan, something that resulted from claims that the company was in cahoots with five publishers to jack up digital book prices. The settlement is for $450 million, with the agreement being made back in June.

As everyone and their neighbor speculated, at the core of Amazon's spat with Hachette is its mission to get lower ebook prices. In a statement on the Kindle forums today, the company directly addressed the issue, and explained why it is pushing for cheaper digital book prices.

Earlier this month, Hachette lobbed an accusation against Amazon, claiming the retail giant was meddling with its sales and causing book shipments to be delayed by many weeks. After weeks of rumbles over this, Amazon has confirmed the spat in a forum post, with the reason revolving around contract issues.

Hachette has accused Amazon of delaying shipments "for reasons of their own", with the Internet retailer delaying the shipment of certain books by a number of weeks. The books span the gamut from new to old, and encompass a variety of different authors.

In early October, Scribd launched an ebook service that competes with similar offerings from Oyster, Amazon, and such. Today it has expanded its battleground into Amazon's territory, making available an app for Kindle Fire users who want to utilize the Scribd library of content.

A court in the Netherlands has tossed out a cases against a Dutch man who uploaded more than 5,000 ebooks to The Pirate Bay, saying the matter isn't criminal and should be dealt with in civil court. This is the latest blow to the anti-piracy group BREIN, which isn't happy with the ruling.

With the end of 2013 closing in, Apple's annual App Store and iTunes numbers are in, and among them we find an eclectic mix of apps, albums, movies, books, and other varied content categories. Not surprisingly, "Candy Crush" topped the free iPhone apps chart, beating out Google's YouTube app and similar, while Macklemore makes a double appearance on the music charts, Gravity trumps all other movies, and Happy Tree Friends takes top slot in the podcast category. Read on to find out what other content took 2013 by storm.